Mobile manipulative toy for child participation



K. G. NEILS Dec. 19,1967

MOBILE MANIPULATIVE TOY FOR CHILD PARTICIPATION SSheets-Sheet 1 FiledNov. 28, 1966 INVENTOR.

m W 5M 5 Dec. 19, 1967 s 3,358,850

MOBILE MANIPULATIVE TOY FOR CHILD PARTICIPATION Filed Nov. 28, 1966 3Sheets-Sheet 3 20 FIG. 4.

INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,358,850 MQBILE MANIPULATIVE TOY FOR CHILDPARTICIPATION Kenneth G. Neils, Box 267, Bigfork, Mont. 59911 Filed Nov.28, 1966, Ser- No. 597,360 6 Claims. (Cl. 212-65) This invention relatesto a toy of the sit-011 type in which the child while seated on the toymay selectively manipulate the toy to perform various operations and, toa degree at least, participate in the operations of the toy responsiveto such manipulation.

It is an object of this invention to provide in a toy as aforesaid, arotatable platform on which the child is seated and from which he canmanipulate a hoisting device at will and by a similar manipulation turnthe platform including his seat to a full 360 degrees in eitherdirection.

It is a further object of this invention to provide in a toy asaforesaid, pedal-operated means with means optionally for connecting apedal-driven shaft to a hoisting drum or to rotation of the platform onwhich the child is seated through a full 360 degrees in eitherdirection.

It is a further object of this invention to provide, in a toy asaforesaid, means for safely seating the child and for mobility of thetoy as a whole.

The above and other objects will be made clear from the followingdetailed description taken in connection with the annexed drawings, inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the toy as a whole;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the toy shown in FIG URE l; 7

FIGURE 3 is a view on the line 33 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a view partly in section taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a view partly in section taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4;and

FIGURE 6 is a view partly in section taken on the line 66 of FIGURE 4.

The current vogue for sit-on toys goes beyond the older concept ofsitting on the toy while propelling it in the manner of a kiddie car.The current vogue calls for a child to be able not only to sit on thetoy but-to direct its operations from his sitting position. It is wellknown that children enjoy emulating the activities of adults and thisenjoyment is greatly increased if there is an actual participation inthe activity which is simulated and the enjoyment is greatly increasedwith any increase in the verisimilitude of an activity. This is theprinciple on which the toy of this invention is based.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, the toy comprises a base portion 10 which,optionally, may be mounted on wheels 12. A platform 14 is pivoted at 16(FIGURES 2 and 3) to the base 10 and is supported by a pair of idlerrolls 18 and a pair of drive wheels 20 and 22, all journaled in or onthe platform 14. A frame 24 having side walls 26 is secured to theplatform 14 and is considered a part thereof. A boom 28 is pivoted at 36to the platform 14 and has a pulley 32 at its free end. The boom 28 isheld in predetermined angular position by a cord or cable 34 which isanchored to a post 36 secured to the casing 24.

Journaled between the side walls 26 of the casing 24 is a shaft 38carrying a drum 40. The drum 40 has a grooved wheel 42 at one end and agrooved wheel 44 at the other. It carries a cable or cord 46 which runsover the pulley 32 on the boom 28 and terminates in a loadattachingdevice 48. This is shown as a hook but it may comprise a bucket, a clamshell or any other suitable load-attaching device.

3,358,859 Patented Dec. 19, 1967 Also journaled between the side walls26 of the casing 24 is a shaft 50 on which are formed a pair of cranksand pedals 52, accessible to the child who is operating the device. Theshaft 50 constitutes a drive shaft and, of course, in a more elaboratemodel the pedals and cranks 52 could be replaced by a suitable motor. Adouble pulley 54 is secured to the shaft 50 and one groove of the pulley54 carries a belt 56 which passes around the wheel 44 of the drum 40,thence back to the pulley 54. This transmits power from the shaft 50 tothe drum 40 for hoisting operations. The casing 24 has an intermediatewall 58 and a shaft 60 is journaled between the wall 58 and the adjacentwall 26. A seat 62 (FIGURE 6) is supported between the intermediate Wall58 and opposite wall 26 and, as Will be observed in FIGURE 6, offers theoccupant of the seat easy access to the pedals 52 and to the assortmentof levers shown in FIGURE 6 which will presently be described.

Referring now to FIGURE 4, in which the seat portion 62 has beenremoved, there is shown a shaft 64 in advance of the seat and overlyingthe shaft 50, the shaft 64 being journaled in the side Walls 26. Underthe rear portion of the seat 62 a shaft 66 is journaled in the sidewalls 26 and extends therebetween. A lever 68 is secured to the shaft 64just in front of the seat portion 62 and a lever 70 is secured adjacentthe opposite end of the shaft 64. The lever 70 is pivoted to a link 72,the other end of which is pivoted to a lever 74 which is fixed on theshaft 66. As will presently be described, this lever 68 which is on theoperators left controls the swing motion.

A second motion lever 102 to the right of the driver controls the hoist.This lever 102 is affixed to a sleeve 164 which is freely rotatable onthe shaft 64. A lever N6 is aflixed to the sleeve 104 and has its freeend pivoted to a link 168. The opposite end of the link 108 is pivotedto an arm 72 fixed to a sleeve 110 journaled on the shaft 66. A secondarm 76 is fixed to the sleeve 110 and has at its free end a pulley 78hearing on the belt 56. When the lever 102 is pulled rearwardly, itrocks arms 106 and 74 (through link 108) forwardly (as shown in FIGURE5) and thereby rocks the arm 76 upwardly to engage the pulley 78 withbelt 56 and begin hoisting action of the drum 40.

When the drum 41 has hoisted the attached load to the desired height, itis always desirable to stop hoisting action of the drum 40 but maintainthe drum against unwinding until the platform and boom can be swung toanother position whereupon the load is lowered back to the floor. Thisbraking effect is accomplished by means of a handle Si) secured to theshaft 69. The crank 82 is also secured to the shaft 69 and is pivoted toa link 84 which, in turn, is pivoted to a lever securely attached to asleeve 85 journaled on the shaft 66 (immediately adjoining the sleeve74). Brake band 86 extends from a pivoted connection with the sleeve 85around the wheel 42 of the drum 40 and thence to a bracket 85 secured tothe platform 14. This mechanism permits holding and controlled loweringof the load while the drum 4% is effectively disconnected from the belt56. Inasmuch as a toy of this type is capable of handling loads largerthan the child should attempt to use, it may be desired to provide asuitable form of slip clutch between the drum 40 and the wheel 44, thuslimiting the maximum load which can be handled by the drum 40. It wasnot deemed necessary to show such a slip clutch since its use isoptional and its form merely a matter of selection from the prior art.

From a standpoint of childhood enjoyment, one of the most importantaspects of the present invention involving a sit-on type of toy is theproject of swinging the carriage relative to the base portion and aspreviously noted, this may be accomplished in either direction for asmany degrees as desired. This swinging function is accomplished as willnow be described.

As best shown in FIGURE 4, the drive wheel 20 is mounted on a stub shaft21 secured to the adjacent side wall 26 while the drive wheel 22 ismounted on a stub shaft 23 secured to its adjacent side wall 26. A belt9| connects the drive wheel 20 to a pulley 92 secured to a shaft 94which is journaled in the walls 26. Similarly, the drive wheel 22 isconnected by a belt 96 to a pulley 98 which is also secured to the shaft94. A drive pulley 109 is also secured to the shaft 94 and is connectedby a belt 102 to a second groove in the pulley 54 on the drive shaft 50.Now it is clear that if the shaft 50 is rotating counterclockwise andthis is preferred, the shaft 94 will also rotate counterclockwise and sowill the pulleys 92 and 98, as well as the drive wheels 20 and 22.Despite the fact that the wheels 26 and 22 rotate in the same directionabout their own axes, if power is applied to the wheel 20 and not to thewheel 22, the platform 14 and its associated parts will rotate relativeto the base about the pivot 16 in a clockwise direction, as viewed inFIG- URE 4, while if the wheel be idle and power applied to the wheel22, the same rotation will occur but in a counterclockwise direction, asviewed in FIGURE 4.

As previously noted, the lever 68 provides a unitary means for selectionas between wheels 24 and 22 and therefore as between clockwise andcounterclockwise rotation, the platform 14 about the pivot 16, thefollowing means have been provided.

The swing lever 68 is mounted ahead and. to the left of the driver andwithin his reach and as viewed in the several figures is in its neutralposition. As previously noted, the lever 68 rocks the shaft 64 and,through link '72 and lever '74, rocks the shaft 66. Pushing forward onthe hand lever 68 therefore results in a clockwise rotation of the shaft66, while a rearward pull on the hand lever 68 results in acounterclockwise rotation of the shaft 66. Also secured to the shaft 66for rotation therewith is a lever 112 adjacent the drive wheel 20*. Thelever 112 carries a pulley 114, best shown in FIGURE 6. This pulley liesbelow and is engageable with the belt 96 to bring power from the shaft94 to drive wheel 20. Also secured to the shaft 66 for rotationtherewith is the lever 116 located adjacent the drive wheel 22 andcarrying a pulley 118 which lies below and is engageable with the belt96 whereby to tighten the belt and deliver power from the shaft 94 tothe drive wheel 22. Accordingly, the platform 14 may be rotated aboutthe pivot 16 either clockwise or counterclockwise, as viewed in FIGURE4, depending on whether the hand lever 68, be pushed forward or pulledback, thereby engaging one or the other of the drive wheels 20 and 22.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the present device is a mostunusual and educational toy. By providing a source of power from footpedals, more actual power is available than normally would be the casewhere motive power as such is supplied by hand. Moreover, since motivepower is dependent on the feet and not on the hands, both hands areavailable for manipulation of two one-way levers, namely, 102 and 89,and one two-way lever, namely, 68. It is possible, therefore, for thechild while his feet are occupied with the pedals to develop aconsiderable degree of manual dexterity in utilizing the several handlevers, care has been taken in this design not to lock out thepossibility of error. This is important to the educational aspect of thetoy since the possibility of error will serve as a direct teachinginfluence on a child using the toy. For instance, if at the top of ahoist a child merely releases hand lever 10?. without at the same timeapplying the brake lever 30, the load would drop abruptly and, ofcourse, difficulty would be encountered if a swing movement is startedby means of hand lever 68 while the hook 48 is engaged with a load butthe load is still on the ground.

While certain details of construction have been used herein as a basisfor this disclosure, it is clear that many of the details may be variedat the will of the designer. Accordingly, this invention is not to belimited to the precise details of the disclosure but only as set forthin the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy on which a child may sit while activating variousinstrumentalities from the sitting position, said toy comprising: a baseportion; a platform rotatably mounted on said base portion; a shaftmounted for continuous rotation on said platform; a childs seat on saidplatform contiguous to said shaft; a boom projecting from said platform;a hoisting drum on said platform having a hoisting line passing over apulley on said boom; a pair of drive wheels mounted on said platform andengaging said base member to rotate said platform relative to said basemember; a lever within reach of said seat for optionally connecting saiddrum to said shaft for driving said drum; and a second lever contiguousto said first lever, said second lever acting in one position to connectone of said drive wheels to said shaft and in another position toconnect the other of said drive wheels to said shaft and in anotherposition to connect the other of said drive wheels to said shaft.

2. A toy as set forth in claim 1, including pedals for driving saidshaft.

3. A toy as set forth in claim 1, including a third handle for operatinga brake for said drum.

4. A toy as set forth in claim 1, in which said base portion is mountedon Wheels.

5. A toy as set forth in claim 4, including pedals for driving saidshaft.

6. A toy as set forth in claim 5, including a third handle for operatinga brake for said drum.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,748,400 2/ 1930 Sabin 254-1842,940,607 6/1960 Bonanno 212-41 2,961,103 11/1960 Ward 21244 EVON C.BLUNK, Primary Examiner.

H. C. HQRNSBY, Assistant Examiner.

1. A TOY ON WHICH A CHILD MAY SIT WHILE ACTIVATING VARIOUSINSTRUMENTALITIES FROM THE SITTING POSITION, SAID TOY COMPRISING: A BASEPORTION; A PLATFORM ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID BASE PORTION; A SHAFTMOUNTED FOR CONTINUOUS ROTATION ON SAID PLATFORM; A CHILD''S SEAT ONSAID PLATFORM CONTIGUOUS TO SAID SHAFT; A BOOM PROJECTING FROM SAIDPLATFORM; A HOISTING DRUM ON SAID PLATFORM HAVING A HOISTING LINEPASSING OVER A PULLEY ON SAID BOOM; A PAIR OF DRIVE WHEELS MOUNTED ONSAID PLATFORM AND ENGAGING SAID BASE MEMBER TO ROTATE SAID PLATFORMRELATIVE TO SAID BASE MEMBER; A LEVER WITHIN REACH OF SAID SEAT FOROPTIONALLY CONNECTING SAID DRUM TO SAID SHAFT FOR DRIVING SAID DRUM; ANDA SECOND LEVER CONTIGUOUS TO SAID FIRST LEVER, SAID SECOND LEVER ACTINGIN ONE POSITION TO CONNECT ONE OF SAID DRIVE WHEELS TO SAID SHAFT AND INANOTHER POSITION TO CONNECT THE OTHER OF SAID DRIVE WHEELS TO SAID SHAFTAND IN ANOTHER POSITION TO CONNECT THE OTHER OF SAID DRIVE WHEELS TOSAID SHAFT.